| Aniela Kucharska, PhD; Cecylia Tatoj, PhD |
On 3 March 2024, Three Cultures Week came to an end. It was a week much different from others, because it connected the zones of our city: the Culture Zone, the Science Zone and the sacred one. Its organisers – Aniela Kucharsko, PhD (curator) and Cecylia Tatoj, PhD (producer) set themselves an ambitious goal that many people thought was impossible to achieve. They wanted to show that the science, religion and culture of Jews, Christians and Muslims go hand in hand and work for peace.
The week began with meetings at the Centre of Culture and Dialogue ‘Doha’. Lectures by Abdul Jabbar Koubaisy, PhD were extremely interesting for all audiences. The participants not only received a dose of knowledge about the Arabic language, but also could taste Arabic coffee and delicious dates. It is worth adding, that many people emphasised that many people admitted that it was the first time in their lives they had contact with Muslim culture.
In the afternoon, in the Ceramics Studio at the Youth Palace in Katowice, “Three cultures” ceramics workshops were organised for children, which were repeated on Thursday, this time addressed to adults.
The second day majored on the Jews. Meetings in Kato Science Corner began with Prof. Katarzyna Kwapisz-Osadnik’s lecture on Mound Moriah in Jerusalem – the holy mountain of these three religions. After that, the participants could take part in the lecture given by Rev. Prof. Artur Malina on the Hebrew language and had a chance to write their names in this language.
In the afternoon, a meeting was held at the Silesian Library in Katowice, held by Dominika Szczawińska, featuring the editors of the book We Won’t Get Deported… The Jewish Resistance Fighters in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie – Karolina Jakoweńko and Tomek Grząślewicz from the Cukerman’s Gate Foundation.
The third day was a turn towards Christians, but it is worth emphasising, that not the Catholics, but Evangelicals. The organisers wanted to emphasise their presence and activities for the region. It was the Lutherans who were the first builders of Katowice, and the Church of the Resurrection of the Evangelical-Augsburg Perish at ul. Warsawska 18, where the concert took place on Wednesday. It was the first brick-built temple in our city. Thanks to the courtesy of the bishop, Rev. Marian Niemiec, PhD, the participants could listen to the performance of the Largo Cantabile choir and Largo choir conducted by Iga Eckert, and then experience almost metaphysical emotions while listening to Maria Ivanitska, a graduate of the Faculty of Ukrainian Folk Instruments, Ternopil State Music School, and now a student at the Faculty for Vocal–Acting, the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, playing the traditional Ukrainian folk instrument – bandura.
Thursday evening began with a lecture by Prof. Katarzyna Kwapisz-Osadnik – “From Jerusalem to Paris”, and then the audience gathered in Kinoteatr Rialto watched the film Notre-Dame on Fire, and once again listened to the angelic voice and bandura playing of Maria Ivanitska.
Friday, in turn, belonged to men. Prof. Krzysztof Wieczorek (USil Faculty of Humanities); Imam Abdul Jabbar Koubaisy, PhD (Director of the Centre of Culture and Dialogue ‘Doha’, President of the Muslim Aid Foundation); Rev. Adam Palion, PhD (Chair of Archdiocesan Committee for Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue, Editor in Chief of the Oecumenica Silesiana semi-annual); Włodzimierz Kac (chair of the Jewish Community in Katowice) and Sławomir Pastuszka, PhD (historian, Judaist) met for a very interesting debate held by Prof. Dariusz Kubok from the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Silesia.
On Saturday, we took part in a lecture given by His Excellency Prof. Ibrahim Bin Saleh Al-Naimi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in Qatar, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue in Qatar. Then the debate began featuring HM Rector of the University of Silesia, Prof. Ryszard Koziołek and Paweł Jędrzejko, PhD, DLitt, Assoc. Prof.
A real treat after the lecture was the ceremony of brewing Moroccan mint tea along with tasting traditional sweets prepared by Hassna Ezzara from the Polish-Moroccan ARGAN Foundation and workshops on the Arabic art of body decoration with henna.
This intense day ended with a concert at the Higher Silesian Theological Seminary. The Etnos Ensemble performed, whose music combines sounds typical of Jews, Christians and Muslims in an extremely original way.
On Sunday, there was a lecture by Magdalena Zdrada-Cok, PhD, DLitt, Assoc. Prof. – ‘Three women. Three religions. Three points of view?’, and then the debate began during which representatives of three religions met: Ewa Porada, PhD (Coordinator of the National Pastoral Program for Families); Teresa Koubaisy (Muslim Aid Foundation) and Dorota Burchard (Vice-Chair of the Jewish Religious Community in Katowice), all led by Cecylia Tatoj, PhD.
Hassna Ezzara, president of the Polish-Moroccan ARGAN Foundation took us on an exotic journey to Morocco.
On Sunday afternoon, the organisers decided to focus on the Jewish history of the region. The Jewish Community in Katowice invited us to visit the cemetery at ul. Kozielska, which was guided by Sławomir Pastuszka, PhD. There was a deafening silence, the sun came out from behind the clouds. Those gathered emphasised that it was an extraordinary, almost mystical meeting as if an echo of the old, unknown history of our city.
Another touching moment was the meeting at the Maria Skłodowska-Curie Secondary School no. 8. Włodzimierz Kac, a graduate, and Chairman of the Jewish Community, introduced the rarely told history of Katowice’s Jews.
Then a group of almost 50 people, went with Dariusz Waleriański on a ride in a historic train, visited Cukerman’s Gate Foundation and listened to stories about Jews living and building the city of Będzin.
Three Cultures Week was also honoured by four exhibitions. Three of them, prepared by the Muslim Aid Foundation and Polish-Maroccan Foundation ARGAN, devoted to Muslim scientists, churches in Muslim countries and Moroccan culture, could have been visited at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Silesia in Katowice. The fourth one, combining all three religions, was prepared by employees of the Library of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Silesia under the supervision of Rev. Adam Palion, PhD.
In summary, it is worth emphasising that during Three Cultures Week, the University of Silesia and the City of Katowice showed their multicultural face. A face that surprised and charmed everyone. We fondly remember the times when our region was a mosaic of cultures, but we do not limit ourselves to the past. Together we are building a reality that – as the organisers showed – is already multicultural Our university, city and the entire region are open to other religions, cultures, views on the world, and are simply curious about other people.
Let us repeat the words of Aniela Kucharska, PhD and Cecylia Tatoj, PhD: science, religion and culture do not have to be mutually exclusive, on the contrary – they can coexist and create a better tomorrow
Related articles
- Three Cultures Week in the City of Science – website
- Intercultural communication – the foundation for learning foreign languages – an article about research by Silesian scientists
- Video summary of the event (YouTube)
